Six Ways to Sabotage Your Resume

Job search wisdom often comes from the most unconventional sources. I recently spotted an article in Computerworld, one of the oldest technical trade magazines which, like most other specialty publications, includes a career section. This article, entitled “Six ways to ruin your resume,” is specifically targeted at IT administrators, but has some interesting insights that anyone can use.

“My vision is blurry. I've reviewed more than 40 résumés for a network administrator position, and less than half have made the cut. Although I rejected some candidates because of their lack of experience (or, rather, their lack of demonstrated required experience), others had errors in their application packages that lowered their ranking -- errors that could have been easily corrected.”

 Take a second look at your resume and see if you have violated any of these rules:

1. Your objective is unclear. One of the biggest challenges I have when working with senior executives is they have a broad skill set, which means when a job opportunity comes along that even remotely matches their diverse skill set they respond, “I can do that!” In the Computerworld article, the positions they are discussing are specific to IT and network administration, but no matter what your expertise, you need to be clear that you understand the challenges of your profession and you have a continuing role to make a contribution.
2. You’ve listed old skills. This is a common problem that a number of our career coaches point out. Don’t put old accomplishments on your resume. Anything that is more than three or four years old is no longer relevant.
3. You’ve created an acronym explosion. Okay, this issue is specific to IT, but we can generalize. Don’t overplay your specialized knowledge, but demonstrate that you have a deeper understanding of the business issues at hand. Knowing the specifics, like six sigma, can be beneficial, but put it in context.
4. Misusing industry jargon. Your specialized knowledge may be valuable, but don’t show off, and don’t think a hiring manager is really going to understand the nuances, or care.
5. Don’t be unclear about the job you are applying for. You need to look beyond the title of the position and understand what the company is really looking for.
6. Don’t be vague or confusing about your experience. Don’t use vague phrases like “part of a team” or “supported senior management.” Get specific and quantify your results. Demonstrate exactly how much value you bring to the party.

NETSHARE has a number of professional resume writers who can help you with this process. But even if you tackle your resume without help, try to think like a hiring manager. You need to be specific and clear about your role in the organization and what value you bring to the company.